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'God of War at E3' - Bear McCreary on scoring the game.

Corpsepyre

Banned
http://www.bearmccreary.com/#blog/blog/video-games/god-of-war-at-e3/

GOWfix02.png


'Unlike most press conferences, the first sound heard was an orchestra tuning up. Then, I emerged from behind the red curtain and walked to the front of the group. I took a bow, turned to my musicians, and raised my hands. The crowd hushed. Clearly this show would not start with speeches or visuals, but would begin with music. With my arms raised in anticipation, I took a deep, long breath. I reminded myself to enjoy every second of what was about to unfold: scoring a live playing of a video game in real time with a full orchestra.'

'This moment was the culmination of a long journey, because my work on God of War began nearly two years ago. One rainy November afternoon, I was called into Sony’s Santa Monica Studio to meet with acclaimed music producers Pete Scaturro and Keith Leary (with whom I had collaborated closely on Sony’s SOCOM 4: US Navy Seals), to discuss a secret project. Our conversation revolved around folk music, mythology, Nordic ethnic instruments, vocal writing, and classical thematic development. “Wait a minute.” I asked. “Is this… a new God of War?!”


'I met game director Cory Barlog early in the process, and immediately knew the franchise was in good hands. Cory was the director of my favorite game in the series thus far (God of War II), and I could immediately see why. He is a natural-born storyteller. Hours flew by in our engrossing story sessions, where he would share his vision for the narrative. I felt like our meetings were being held around a campfire.'

GOW10.png


'The development team and I gravitated towards low orchestral instruments, Icelandic choir, deep male vocals, powerful female vocals (in particular Faroese singer Eivør Pálsdóttir, whom we flew in to Los Angeles for the performance), folk percussion, and Nordic stringed instruments such as the nyckelharpa and hurdy gurdy. The main theme features all of these elements.

When the decision was made to unveil God of War at E3 2016, Playstation came to me with a radical idea. They asked me if I would be willing to perform my original score live to picture with a full orchestra at the press conference. Naturally, I was on board immediately and enthusiastically.'


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A lot more at the link. Very good article.
 
God of War always has some of the best soundtracks of any game and it's awesome that it's just as important to them as ever. That opening song was so epic
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
The orchestra playing in real time was one of the coolest flourishes to accompany a game reveal I have ever seen.
 

Ascenion

Member
I was pleased with what I heard but he has some big shoes to fill. Gerard Marino's God Of War scores are legendary. So far his doesn't match the older themes.
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
People seemed confused by that lady, but I realized she must have had a wide range when it came to vocals. I feel GoW Norse is going to be good.
 

KyleCross

Member
Sounds like he's a gamer himself. GOW2 is also my favorite and I'm really looking forward to a new entry in Cory's hands.
 

Corpsepyre

Banned
People seemed confused by that lady, but I realized she must have had a wide range when it came to vocals. I feel GoW Norse is going to be good.

She was seen doing vocals too during the set. Were quite reminiscent of the older theme vocals. Were amazing, actually. Check out the video posted up there. Brilliant range.
 
Love McCreary, can't wait to see what he does with this. Thanks so much for the link, OP, I didn't realise he was a GoW fan. (Also, how many things does the man work on simultaneously?! He's seems to be scoring half the bloody shows on television, and they're all incredible.)

No more holding devil's pot of tea, I see...

I'll always be holding the devil's pot of tea in my heart.

...MY MILKSHAKE.

I was pleased with what I heard but he has some big shoes to fill. Gerard Marino's God Of War scores are legendary. So far his doesn't match the older themes.

Marino did such incredible work on the series, his music always felt like such an essential character to the series as Kratos was. Along with the main theme, hearing Brothers of Blood and The Melody of Pandora were some of my most memorable GoW moments.
 

Moofers

Member
I really enjoyed that performance as the Sony opener. Brilliant all around. And Eivør Pálsdóttir sounded amazing. I watched her part a few times after I got home from the event and was trying to figure out which noises were actually coming from her. It was pretty impressive. And man, what a looker! Classic beauty right there...

Barrow Roll said:
Loved McCreary's music in Battlestar Galactica. This soundtrack is in good hands.

Yeah, this too. I remember a few episodes in particular where the music was stellar.
 

GribbleGrunger

Dreams in Digital
uh... what? well you're officially less classy than a God of War game - grats.

For me, that's irony. I hated the sex mini games in GOW and I'm glad they're no longer there. I'm just playin' mate but I thought I'd made that clear by adding 'I do apologise ....' to indicate it's a joke at my own expense.
 
Never seen Bear McCreary before the conference, that guy is handsome.

Its funny he figured out what game it was by just talking about the kind of music they want. It's fantastic to know he's a fan of the series, I'm sure that helped a lot in writing the music.

Never heard of a hurdy gurdy, I want one.
 

jett

D-Member
Bear McCreary is the bomb. His work on BSG is fantastic. He also has a really cool name. :p

The interview made me check the GOW portion of the conference again. It really was a genius move to use a live orchestra. Don't know if it will be possible to do that every year, but it would be cool if they did. Sony really is the only company that puts on a show out there.
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
For me, that's irony. I hated the sex mini games in GOW and I'm glad they're no longer there. I'm just playin' mate but I thought I'd made that clear by adding 'I do apologise ....' to indicate it's a joke at my own expense.

How is it a joke at your expense and not the typical gross shit people post about any woman who happens to intersect with videogames?
 
Bear McCreary is the bomb. His work on BSG is fantastic. He also has a really cool name. :p

The interview made me check the GOW portion of the conference again. It really was a genius move to use a live orchestra. Don't know if it will be possible to do that every year, but it would be cool if they did. Sony really is the only company that puts on a show out there.

they've gotta do it every year. it sounded too good.

Bear McCreary is a fantastic composer. I know he scored Cloverfield Lane but I'm waiting for him to be a serious option for more films. His work on BSG and now Black Sails is impeccable. And that track he scored for the new God of War sounds great.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Hopefully the main menu theme gets you pumped like the deep string intro to God of War III's Rage of Sparta.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles made me aware of Bear and The Walking Dead's pretty great too.
 

Ascenion

Member
I do hope that at some point the male vocals will sing Kratos' name again.

No doubt it definitely should. This OST should sound a tad like the work Jeremy Soule did on Skyrim. Full male choir and all. I just hope his main theme is just the games main theme kinda like how all the GoW games have seperate themes. He'd be smart to keep Kratos' leitmotif and motifs. Despite the universe Kratos is still very much Greek and I hope to see it reflected .
 
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